Top 5 Highlighting Powders/Strobing 101

Hello, everyone, and welcome to my second installment of my Top 5 series. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love highlighters. They make skin look soft, hydrated, and radiant, and there are so many ways to use them.

I know a lot of people consider highlighted skin more of a summer or warm weather trend, but I believe glow all year round is not only appropriate but it’s necessary for me. I feel like no matter how good my skin looks on its own, it doesn’t look right to do a full face without a little glow. Here are few important things you need to know:

Highlighting or “strobing” the face is done with the intention of creating that glow-from-within-look I was describing above.

You generally want to highlight the highest points of your face. These areas are marked in the photo to the right (source).

Highlight should be applied last in your routine.

Small, fluffy brushes are generally ideal for dusting highlighting powder onto the skin. Fan brushes and tapered highlight brushes are ideal for the cheek bones and the nose. Smaller brushes, or fingertips can be used on the more precise and smaller areas like the brow bone and the cupid’s bow.

Once you have your desired glow in place, be sure to spray it with a setting spray to melt it in, and keep it in place all day!

Below are my swatches, along with the corresponding number to make it easy to identify which is which.

1) Colourpop Super Shock Cheek: Stole the Show/6E04

This was my first ever Colourpop purchase, before I really started collecting makeup. I had never experienced anything like the bouncy, buttery feeling of this product, and immediately fell in love. This is the most subtle glow I use. You can see from the photo above that it matches my skin pretty much perfectly.

When you first sign up for Colourpop’s email list, you get a free $5 to apply to your first order! I used this offer to buy Stole the Show and paid only $7.99 including shipping. Each of Colourpop’s highlights cost just $8. The formula is so creamy, you need to make sure you keep the lids on tight at all times when not in use so they don’t dry out!

2) Wet n’ Wild Megaglo highlighting powder: Precious Petals/34766

If you’ve ever read one of my posts, you probably already know that Wet n’ Wild is one of my favorite brands because they’re cruelty free, inexpensive, and high quality. Their highlights are no exception. I saw so many beauty gurus on Twitter and YouTube rave about these powders, so I knew I needed one of my own. I paid only $3.99 on their site. When you sign up for their emails you get a 10% off code, so what are you waiting for?

Precious Petals is such a beautiful shade. It looks beautiful alone or over blush, and the pan is so big I know it will last me a long time. The formula is definitely drier than Colourpop’s, but is a stronger reflector of light. I’m glad the pan is so large, because I won’t be putting this one down anytime soon.

3) BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel palette

I reviewed this palette in depth for you here. I hope you’ve gotten a chance to purchase your own already. You can find it on the BH site, and at Ulta stores, and it costs only $14.50. I really love and use every shade in this palette, but I wanted to talk to you about the second highlighting shade (marked #12 in my photo in the review post). It’s an almost exact shade dupe for Stole the Show from Colourpop, although BH’s formula is not as bouncy. I’ve used so much of this shade already that the pressed design isn’t visible anymore.

4) Sleek Makeup highlight palette: Solstice

I have a complete review on this palette as well. If you decide to purchase just one highlighting palette, one of Sleek Makeup’s palettes should be on your list. These have the perfect consistency for buildable glow. There are three powders and one cream included in each palette. My favorite shade from the Solstice palette is Equinox. It matches my skin perfectly and gives me a stunning glow. This just might be my favorite out of my favorites.

Sleek currently has four highlighting palettes, each less than $14, so you need to get your hands on one! They’re finally available to be shipped to the U.S., too, so you won’t have to worry about having trouble with shipping.

5)Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit: Sweets

I own two of ABH’s Glow Kits, Sweets and Moonchild and I love them both. The Butterscotch shade from Sweets does the same thing for me all of the others on this list do – it matches my skin tone and gives me that beautiful glow. The ABH Glow Kits are the most pricey highlighting palettes I own – each $40, but the pan size and formula quality make them worth it.

What are your favorite highlighting powders? Do you prefer cream highlights? Tell me about what you use below! There might be a beautiful highlighter out there I’m missing out on!